2021
by Gemdrive
Summary: The world suffers the worst disaster in history. No one knows for sure what caused it. All that remains are mutants seeking only to survive in the harsh new world. The TMNT are their last hope.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT, other people do ;P

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It is the year 2021, the world has changed, the people have changed. No longer human, the world now sees only mutants. No one knows for sure what caused the change, no one really remembers what humans look like except for the odd decayed corpse of someone unlucky, or lucky enough to have died on that day.

Four brave souls do remember, yes they were there when the world changed. They too had changed but in another way.

You see, my brothers and I were already different before that fateful day but now we are better.

My name is Michelangelo and this is my story.

My memory is vague of the day that robbed us of our father and close friends, unfortunately they never survived but we made many new friends and with new friends came new enemies.

With no governments or leaders the people were confused and disorientated. Factions began to form, some were good, most were bad.

Our faction became a haven for those who needed guidance and protection. My brother, Leonardo, is a respected leader of our group, he has helped many people find peace. My other brothers and I help him maintain that peace.

Donatello keeps us safe from the enemies outside who seek to destroy us. Raphael is Leonardo's second in command, peace keeping within the community whilst helping him with all the duties a leader carries. Me? I do a bit of everything, mind you, we all do what we can for the good of those who have chosen us as their protectors. My main duty is medical but I like to see myself as a kind of moral officer.

Our community numbers some one thousand seven hundred people, women and children included. We train those who can pick up a weapon so that we can defend ourselves should Donatello's defenses, God forbid, fail.

After nearly seven years in our tranquil home our peace was shattered violently. An assassin had made her way into the complex and attempted to kill Leonardo, without a leader this community would be easy pickings. She was luckily unsuccessful but she delivered a crippling blow. Leonardo fell into a coma two days ago, Raphael has had to take up Leonardo's duties to try and restore order. The people are frightened, if an assassin could reach Leonardo so easily then what hope did they have?

I'd like to say this story has a happy ending but it has only just begun.

"Mike?"

I stop writing and swivel in my chair, "Hey Raph"

Raph is leaning against the doorframe, a tired look in his eyes, I rise from my chair and move towards him, "You need anything?"

He shakes his head, "How's he doing?"

I sigh and turn back to my sleeping brother, "He's been better, has she said anything?"

Raph knew who I was referring to, the assassin. He absently scratched at his arm, "Damn cat, her claws need removing"

Leo's attacker was a mutated cat, she had managed to get a few of our best fighters with those claws before she was taken down, "I can put some more ointment on that if you want"

He shook his head and moved into the room, he pulled a chair from the corner and placed it next to Leo's bed then slumped into it, "Can you do anything for him?"

I moved towards him shaking my head slightly, "There are some herbs that may help but I haven't got any left"

Raph knew what I was about to ask, I had been hassling Leo for some time to let me take a scouting party topside to search for herbs and medical supplies, he insisted that it would be a futile attempt. If there were any, the scavengers would have picked them up by now, he stood quickly and threw his arms up in a sign of frustration, "Damn it Mike, you still think that a bunch of plants survived when millions of people didn't that day? And even if they did, the scavengers would have taken it all by now"

"You sound like Leo" I replied simply

He didn't get a chance to reply when Don entered, "Hey"

I smiled, grateful for the distraction, "Hey Donny, how's it going?"

Don frowned as he glanced at Leo, "Could be better"

Raph huffed, "Did you find out how she got through your defenses?"

Don stiffened, he looked insulted, "The security measures were and are still in place, there is no way she could have gotten through"

Raph moved quickly over to Don and they stood beak to beak, "Then how, dear brother, did she get in?"

Don didn't back down, "Gee, I don't know Raph, maybe she knocked on the front door and pleaded innocent" he replied spitefully.

"Are you saying I let her in?"

"Well she must've gone through your screening process"

They were both seething, if this kept up they would certainly end up trying to knock each other out, "Guys come on, not here okay?" I gestured towards our sleeping brother and they backed down, still glaring at one another.

"Look, it doesn't matter how she got in here, the fact is, she did" I offered, it wasn't much of a compromise but they relented.

Don turned away from Raph and walked towards Leo, he sat down in Raph's seat and took Leo's hand, "How did she get so close to him?"

Raph turned, crossed his arms over his plastron and scoffed, "She probably used her feline charm"

I spun quickly and glared at Raph, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Raph smirked, "I'm only saying that cats are clever at that sort of thing"

Was he insinuating that Leo was getting laid? He better not, for his sake, "Raph" I warned.

He raised his hands up defensively, "I was just saying that cats are clever at getting to places other people can't, okay? Don't get worked up about it"

I relaxed slightly, how could Raph joke about something like that at a time like this.

There was a gentle knock at the door and we all turned to look at Raph's lieutenant standing in the door frame, she was a tall slim mutated tiger and she wore a tight black uniform with a belt hanging loose around her waist, her long thin tail resting on the floor. She had a katana strapped to her back, on her left leg she had an extendable bo tied to her thigh, on her right a handgun. Leo didn't approve of guns but Raph had convinced him that the enemy would be carrying worse weapons so he reluctantly agreed.

Raph lowered his arms and nodded at her, "Report"

She nodded towards Don and then me before glancing at Leo, and then turned back to Raph, "She's dead, she had something lodged in her mouth, she loosened it and swallowed it before we could stop her"

Raph nodded, "Did you gain any information from her before she died?" he asked coldly

She shook her head, "Unfortunately not"

"Damn it" he slammed his fist onto the table hard, "Anything else?"

"Yes, we received a transmission from the Phoenix faction, somehow they have found out about our situation and are willing to share medical supplies, on the condition that Leonardo is brought to them for treatment"

I was shocked to say the least, the Phoenix faction have kept to themselves for years, they were anything but friendly during our last encounter. If my memory serves, they originally tried to take over our faction with brute force, of course they didn't otherwise we wouldn't be here now. The Phoenix faction has always wanted to own our rather strategic position. They did try to broker a peace treaty with us but Leo wasn't too keen on the idea, he seemed to think that it was merely a ruse to lower our guard. As always he turned out to be right.

"The Phoenix faction?" I questioned, slightly confused at their sudden generosity.

Raph put his hand on my shoulder but kept his gaze on his lieutenant, "Anything else Carla?"

"Yes, they are willing to let a small party into their camp, no more than six, including Leonardo" she slipped her hands behind her back and clasped them together.

Raph pulled on my shoulder, turning me towards him, "Mike"

I took his hand and pulled it from my shoulder, "I'll go" I replied simply

Don jumped up quickly, "You two aren't seriously considering their offer are you?"

I turned to Don, "Leo needs medicine that I haven't got, if they do have what he needs then I'm willing to go"

Don sighed, "And you're taking Leo with you? This has got 'trap' written all over it" he spat.

"Dammit Donny, since when did you become so pessimistic?" Raph replied.

"Since I lost my wife" Don snapped angrily, he closed his eyes briefly then turned and rested a hand on the edge of Leo's bed, the other moved to Leo's brow, "I don't want to lose my brothers too"

I thought back to the day they brought Don's wife, Jess, back from a supply run. Activity from the other nearby factions had increased but she still insisted that she was the best person to lead the mission. Jess was seriously injured and I did all that I could to save her but it wasn't enough. I was there when Don cried over her body, I was the one who let her die, I kept thinking that I should have done more, there must have been more I could've done but there wasn't, I know that now. I felt guilty that it happened, that I let it happen but it was Leo who helped me through, he reminded me that I am not God and that I can't save everybody. Now here we stand with the life of my brother hanging in the balance and I'll be damned if I let it happen again.

I walked towards Don and placed my hand on his shoulder, gently turning him to face me, "You're not gonna lose us Don, I promise you that" I pulled him towards me and we hugged each other, I heard movement to my side, I noticed Raph moving towards us, he placed a hand on Don's shoulder, "Mike's right, we've been fighting to survive all these years and we'll keep fighting, together as a family"

Don pulled away from me and rubbed his eyes furiously, "I don't want to walk into this thing unprepared, I'll get some of my equipment ready" he moved away quickly, nodded once to Carla, a gesture she returned and walked out the door.

Raph looked at me for a moment before turning and walking towards Carla, "I want you to stay here and take over for me"

Carla opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off, "No, don't argue with me on this"

"But..."

"No Carla" he brushed her furred cheek with his hand, "please, I couldn't stand to see anything happen to you"

Carla turned away but he pulled her back, "You're the best person to keep the community safe while I'm away"

I could notice that Carla was reluctant to agree but she knew that this was important to him so she relented and reached up, putting her arms around his neck and pulled him close, "Be careful"

They kissed gently then Raph pulled away, "Thank you"

She smiled, "I'll get the department heads together, they'll need to know what's going on"

Raph nodded, "Tell them that I'll meet with them in an hour"

Carla left quietly and Raph turned back to me, "How long will it take to get Leo travel ready?"

I shrugged, that wasn't an easy thing to work out, ideally Leo shouldn't be moved at all but this wasn't an ideal situation and I have to work with what I have, "Maybe an hour, no sooner"

Raph smiled at me but I could see the nervousness in his eyes, hell, I could feel the tension leave the room with him as he walked out. I watched him leave then turned back and began preparing Leo for the journey.

* * *

I followed closely behind the gurney that carried my brother as we headed towards the truck, several people stopped us along the way, some wanting to see Leo and give their best wishes for a successful mission, others begging us not to leave them alone. I was grateful when Raph and several of his best 'officers' showed up and held them back.

Don had his head buried underneath the bonnet of the truck, checking that everything is fine, most likely. As we neared I looked about, the Phoenix faction had allowed us to bring six people in total, well obviously there were four of us so I had to wonder who else had volunteered. It was then that I noticed Adrian, a young wolf with grey fur and a very bushy tail. He was dressed similar to Carla, with a katana, bo staff and gun but unlike Carla, his suit was loose fitting.

Next to him stood Sam, a tall slim panther with black fur, together her and Carla had managed to take care of Leo's would be assassin, although Sam did have a couple of nasty gashes from the cat's claws along her neck. She too wore the same as Carla, it had unofficially become the uniform that was standard among the security forces in the community.

As they eased Leo into the truck I acknowledged the two volunteers, as the others climbed inside I glanced out to see Raph saying goodbye to Carla, they were kissing and cuddling each other. Then he pulled away and climbed inside, as the doors closed I couldn't help but think that this was a big mistake.

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Author's note: This idea popped into my head and simply demanded that I write it. I'm aging the turtles to be about 40 years old but considering how long turtles can live for, I'm assuming that they are still very much in their prime. Leo lovers please don't hate me, he will be making an active appearance in this fic, it's just going to take a couple of chapters to do it :)

Please let me know what you think, all opinions are gratefully accepted :)


	2. Into the fire

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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Chapter 2. Out of the frying pan and into the fire 

The truck moved slowly over the rough terrain of what used to be New York City as we made our way to the Phoenix faction, I can't seem to shake the nervous tension building up inside of me, Don was right that this smelled like a trap and I know that Leo would not approve of this at all but we needed to do this.

I move away from Leo for a moment to glance out of one of the spaces between the armor of the truck, looking out I see only debris, rubble from crumpled apartment buildings, street lights laying horizontally, stripped down to bare minimum for all it's parts, burnt out cars again stripped, some are so bad that they are useless to anyone now. Small fires burn all about us, probably due to the scavengers having fun before returning to their faction. The night sky gives us the ability to move through the city relatively unnoticed, the headlights of the truck are dim making our journey a slow one, to have them any brighter would attract too much attention.

The truck suddenly jolts to the side catching me unaware, I fall back from my viewpoint and land heavily on the floor, I look at my two brothers in the front of the truck to see Raph pointing outside and barking out orders to Don, who swerves to avoid something. Adrian and Sam jump to attention and grab the shotguns that are kept at each side of the truck, they forcefully push open the side hatches and begin firing. The sound of gunfire and bullets impacting the truck fill my ears and I turn back to my brothers just in time to see Raph leaping from his seat and flying for the back of the truck, as he dives past me he reaches for the shot gun above Leo's sleeping form, pulling it from the wall. He pushes open the back shutter and opens fire, whoever is firing at us are using machine guns, the bullets thump against the armor of the truck and my mind wanders for a moment, how long could the armor withstand such a heavy bombardment?

Don has sped up considerably making the ride even worse as the truck rides over bumps and falls into holes, Sam throws her shotgun to the floor, it's empty, she pulls her handgun from her thigh and takes aim, shooting at the enemy. I have to help out, I pick up the gun and reach for the cabinet behind Don's seat, flinging it open I grab for the ammunition and start to reload the gun, I shout once to her and she turns long enough to receive the reloaded weapon. I pull more ammo from the cabinet because I know that Adrian will need more soon.

Don suddenly yells for us to brace and I dive over Leo, there's a loud explosion and the truck tips over onto it's side and I find myself rolling over the top of him, I hold him tight as his limp form threatens to roll uncontrollably. There is no time to catch my breath, I look up at the carnage around me, the bottom of the truck is destroyed, only a hole remains, the truck rests on it's side, from the look of it, we must have hit a mine. Raph and Adrian jump up and move towards the hole, standing to one side they glance out cautiously. Sam makes her way towards me and helps me move Leo away from possible gunfire, I thank her and she nods moving quickly to Don at the wheel, his head is lolled to one side and fear runs through me, I glance down at Leo, he's still breathing and there are no signs of any injury, thankfully.

"Sam how's Don?" I yell over the sound of the gunfire ongoing outside.

"Just bumped his head, he'll be okay," I heard her grunt and strain as she pulls on something in front of Don, "his ankle is stuck under the damn pedals" She replied, you could tell by her voice that she wasn't amused at all.

Raph spun around, "Sam take over here, I'll see to Don"

Sam moved quickly and within moments was standing in Raph's vacant position with her shotgun, firing rapidly out of the hole.

I heard Adrian's gun click and grabbed for the ammo, "Adrian, here"

I threw the ammo at him and he reloaded quickly then turned back to the enemy. Raph grabbed a fragment of the truck that had been blown apart and used it as leverage on the pedal, with Don's leg free he pulled him up, Don reached his arm around Raph's neck and they climbed around the seats. Raph lowered Don down next to me and I pulled the med kit from the wall now floor of the truck. As I burrowed into it for some bandages for Don's head Raph placed his hand on my shoulder.

"How's Leo?"

I nodded once, "He's fine, who's attacking us?"

"Scavengers," he glanced out of the hole, "they must like our truck" he quipped.

"Tell them we'll take fifty dollars off the price for the new hole and bullet marks" I replied jokingly, it was more for me than anyone else.

Raph smiled and turned away, chuckling lightly "Keep it up Mikey"

I turned my attention to Don, his head was bleeding slightly but it wasn't too bad, I pulled his bandana off to see the wound a little clearer. Well, as clear as it could be seen in the dim light that lit the truck compartment. He flailed his arms attempting to bat my attentions away, "Mike, I'm fine"

I pulled his hands down into his lap and gave them a final push, "Don't argue with me" I said softly.

He relaxed and turned his head away so that the wound was facing me, I reached up and began to treat it gently. I am so used to doing two things at once that I could spare a glance at the battle raging no more than eight feet away, Raph was masterfully wielding the shotgun and hitting his target every time, Sam and Adrian were faring quite well managing to hit several enemies, Adrian pulled back as bullets smashed against the edge of the hole, quite close to his head, he chanced another look and noticed something.

I turned back to Don to finish off wrapping the bandage about his head and handed him his bandana, he took it from me gratefully and tied it back on. Then I stood and moved cautiously towards Adrian, "What is it?"

He nodded outside, "The Phoenix are on their way"

I looked out and noticed another armored truck heading towards us, they were firing at the scavengers, I looked at Raph, "They're helping us out"

Raph didn't look convinced, "Yeah, they seem to be real friendly all of a sudden," he tipped his head back slightly, "can Donny move?"

I nodded and made my way back towards Leo and Don, "We might have to move, do you think you can?"

He pushed himself up from the floor and wavered a bit, I quickly lifted my arm and he took it for support, "I'll be okay, what's going on?" he replied.

I helped him lean against the side of the truck, "The Phoenix just showed up," I said. He nodded and closed his eyes, I reached up to him and shook his shoulders gently, he looked up at me and smiled, I smiled back, "headache?"

"Yeah, someone should tell them out there to stop firing then it wouldn't hurt so bad" he joked.

I crouched down to Leo and picked him up, putting him over my shoulder, he was heavy but I wasn't about to complain.

Raph came towards us and held out his arms, "Give Leo to me"

I shook my head, "I've got him, just help Don"

He nodded and pulled Don's arm up and around his shoulders, then we moved out.

Adrian and Sam provided cover fire as we headed towards the open doors of the truck that had come to our aid, Raph helped Don climb inside then turned and headed back to help Adrian and Sam, a large pair of hands grabbed for Leo and roughly pulled him inside and I glanced up to see a large bear placing Leo in the far corner of the truck, Don crawled over to Leo and glared at the bear, I waited half inside the truck and called out to the others, they came quickly and the doors closed, the driver sped off.

Raph stood with his shotgun lowered and stared at the bear, his other hand was resting on his sai, the bear simply smiled and turned away, moving towards me, "You're the medic?"

I nodded, he pivoted his head and thumbed to his right, "Would you mind helping ours, he was hit"

I looked around him at the crumpled form in the corner, a mutated dog with short brown fur sat clutching his right shoulder, the bear tapped my arm and I turned, he was holding a med kit, I took it from him and moved towards the injured figure.

"Hey, how you doing?" I put the med kit on the floor and gently pulled his hand away from his wound, he winced at the pain.

"I've never been shot before, does it usually hurt this much?" he breathed in quickly as I applied a little pressure to the wound.

"Yeah, pretty much, my name's Mike by the way" my hands moved quickly from the wound to the first aid box, it wasn't a life threatening injury but his arm would be useless for a while.

"Yeah, we know about you, you've got quite a reputation," he replied smiling slightly, "I'm Blake"

"Nice to meet you," I finished bandaging his would and held out my hand, he took it and we shook, "What kind of reputation?"

"You're 'the brothers,' everyone around here knows about you, the brothers who stopped the Phoenix overthrow of the Community, the brothers who destroyed the scavenger group that attacked a supply run in retribution for the death of one of your wives..." he rattled on quickly about all of our previous battles, some that I have never been proud of but we had no choice, to show weakness in this hazardous new world would mean a very short life indeed. We all agreed that a no nonsense approach was necessary to maintain our survival. It's worked well so far.

I interrupt him mid flow, "Okay, I get the idea" my voice gave away my irritation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you" he shifted his position and tried to sit forward but I pushed him back gently.

"No, you need to rest that arm up," he sat back and I sighed heavily, "And you didn't offend me, it's just that it's not really something I like to be reminded of"

I stood up and held onto the side of the truck as it dropped into a hole in the street, I hardly noticed how much the truck was moving whilst I was tending to Blake. I stood next to Raph out of earshot of our rescuers, "What's the plan?"

Raph kept his hand on the sai but had passed the shotgun to Sam, "Just watch your back and make sure that Leo isn't left alone at anytime in their compound. We'll stay in three's, Adrian is with you and Leo, Don and Sam stay with me"

I nodded and went to speak but we were interrupted.

The bear moved forwards and towered in front of us, "We've arrived" he said simply then turned away.

I moved towards Don and Leo with Raph close behind me, Don stood uneasily, I sighed and placed my hand on his and Raph's shoulders, "Into the lion's den guys"

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Author's note: So? Come on tell me what you think, I love reviews. Speaking of which, onto the reviews: 

SPOOTYCUP: So sorry about the lack of Leo, we will see him soon, I promise, thanks for reviewing :)

BUSLADY OF SOCAL: Wow, now that is freaky, Don and Jessie? Really? That's great :) I'm glad that you like the military theme, I just thought, 'what if' and then started writing, you know? Thanks for the rewiew ;P

AMY: Yep, unfortunately Splinter, April and Casey didn't survive. I appreciate the detailed review, whew! I do intend to reveal what actually happened in the past to cause so much mayhem but not just yet. Thanks for the review :)

REINBEAUCHASER: Unique? Really? Awww, this is my first attempt at first person narrative style so I'm glad that you like it :) Thanks for reviewing ;P

LIONESS-GODDESS: Unfortunately, I have never read Ender's Game but I have heard that it is a very good book, so no, I'm afraid this story is purely coincidental but having heard the book mentioned twice in one week has piqued my curiosity, so I will have to make it a point to visit my local bookstore and buy one. A fellow sci-fi fan huh? Any particular favorites? Anyway, I digress, thanks for the review ;)

THE REV: Glad you like it, thanks for reviewing :)


	3. The Meeting

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Okay, so this next chapter is going to be narrated by Raph, kind of like an interlude. Mike's narration can only inform the reader to a certain extent of what is actually happening in the story, so I've decided that it would be easier and quicker to set this chapter the way it is.

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Chapter 3

The Meeting

We've been here for two days, I haven't seen Mike or Adrian since we arrived but I know that they are alright, I can feel it and right now I'm being led to the quarters of the Phoenix faction leader, alone, I know that I had ordered everyone to remain together and Don had reminded me of that when I agreed to the offer, they asked for me alone. Maybe I'm concerned that if we don't obey their 'requests' then they would stop giving Leo his treatment or maybe I'm doing this to show a sign of trust, not that I trust them but what choice do we have right now.

They haven't disarmed us, their sign of trust I guess and I only have one escort, if they think that this is going to make me lower my guard, they are seriously mistaken. After a five-minute journey through their compound we reach a door, my escort knocks once.

"Enter"

He pushes the door open and gestures for me to go inside, he doesn't follow me through but shuts the door leaving me alone with Jake.

The room is laid out neatly, it's Jake's quarters, his bed is tucked away in the far corner and a desk sits to the right, there are pictures on the walls showing the city how it used to look, all of New York's landmarks that now lay in ruin. His desk is bare except for a pile of papers sitting at one corner, he's sitting in the chair with his back to me, I move into the room and stand not too far from the chair placed opposite him, he turns and lifts his hand, silently asking for me to sit. I sit down slowly and wait for him to speak.

Jake is a hyena, dressed in combat pants and a blue sweater, his right cheek has a scar starting from the corner of his eye to his chin, it's a scar that I had given him.

"Hello Raphael" his voice is calm and friendly.

"Jake" I reply.

"I thought you might like to know that your brothers treatment is coming along nicely, it shouldn't be too long before he makes a full recovery" again he speaks calmly, damn it, he's throwing the ball into my court.

"Thanks for helping him, although I still don't know why you were so keen to lend a hand" it wasn't easy being nice to someone who tried to kill me three years ago, as if reading my thoughts, he replied.

"Raphael, can you not put the past behind you, as I have done. After all, you nearly took my head off when we last met and here we are, I'm sure that if I did not offer you any help your brother would be dead or dying"

If he was looking to piss me off, it was working, the mention of Leo possibly dying does not ease my nerves one bit. I glared at him, silently telling him that that was a low blow and he smiles at me.

"You don't like me do you?" he asks.

"What ever gave you that idea?" I retort but he merely laughs.

"Raphael, it is not my intention to anger you, I was simply stating the obvious, I haven't asked you here to tease you, I simply wanted to talk" he leans forward and places his elbows on the desk, clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them.

"So talk" he needed to get to the point soon.

"Very well, the reason why I have done what I have done is to save this city from a new threat, your brothers survival is important to me" his voice has dropped the calming tone, he was getting irritated by my short replies.

"Why would that be?" again, a short answer.

"Have you heard about the scavengers recently, they have successfully taken over two smaller factions in the past year, their numbers have doubled, if this continues then our factions alone would not stand a chance against them" he paused to give me time to think about it, I knew what he was getting at but I let him continue.

"I believe that the only way to destroy this threat is to join our two factions together, that way either the scavengers would think twice about attacking us, or should they be stupid enough to try then we will be able to withstand their attempt" he was serious about this, I could tell, I chuckled lightly feeling the irony of the situation, this is coming from someone who had spent the last few years trying to overrun us and now they were running scared.

"Do you think this is funny Raphael?" he spat sharply, "You think that you and that community are so invincible that nothing could touch you? If that is true then why is your brother laying in our infirmary on the brink of death?"

I didn't give him time to continue his verbal assault, in mere seconds I was up and over his desk, pulling him from his chair and pinning him to the wall with a sai to his throat.

"I think we've already figured it out that talking about Leo gets me a little upset, so if you don't want me to give you a matching scar on the other cheek, I would recommend that you get to the point" I spat angrily.

He winced at the pressure of the sai pressing into his throat, "Raphael, I'm sorry but these are troubled times and I admit that I am concerned, I shouldn't have spoken in such a way but I need you to listen to me for a moment, please" he wasn't scared, far from it, if anything happened to him then that would definitely sign all of our death warrants, I released him slowly and backed away, he relaxed and straightened out his clothes before picking up the fallen chair and sitting back down, I followed suit and put my sai away.

"I'll get straight to the point, your brother and I have been in communication with each other, he is well aware of the scavengers and their activity, I contacted him first about two weeks ago, not long after that he was attacked, someone must have known about our discussion and wanted to stop a possible merger of our two factions, no one here knows of our talk and I assume from your expression that Leonardo has not mentioned it to you either. Although given the timeframe I believe he didn't get the chance" he frowned at me, a look of sympathy on his face.

Leo wouldn't keep something like this from us, not his own brothers, I can't really tell if Jake is lying but that doesn't mean a thing, if Leo did know something about all of this then I would have to wait to hear it from him.

"If this is true then you know that I'll have to speak with him before this conversation goes any further, given our history I can't simply take your word for it" I replied.

"Understandable," he leaned back into his chair, "your brothers are in med lab one, I can arrange for you to see them"

"What about Donatello and Sam?" I wanted them to be there, I know Don would want to see Leo.

"I can arrange an escort to take them there but when Leonardo has recovered I want to talk again" that wasn't a request, I nodded once and he stood, I followed him to the door then waited as he quietly spoke with my escort who had remained outside. Then I followed him to med lab one.

* * *

I entered the room to see Leo lying on a bed with Mike sitting quietly next to him, Adrian stood at the door, he turned and bowed to me, it wasn't necessary but I returned the gesture then patted his arm. I moved further into the room and Mike stood, raising his finger to his mouth to tell me to stay quiet. Leo was moving and groaning, he had awoken from his short time in a coma and was now sleeping, Mike smiled at me and I smiled back, I was relieved to know that Leo was going to be okay and from the look on Mike's face he was too. We had been left alone in the room but there were still cameras that watched our every move, I didn't care about them as I walked over to Mike and flung my arms around him, patting his shell, he did the same.

"Good work Mike" I whispered.

"Hey, it wasn't all me but thanks anyway" Mike replied.

Still holding my brother I whispered, "When Don gets here, we need to talk"

* * *

Authors Note: There we have it, another chapter done, it wasn't really fast paced but now that Leo is awake it should get a little quicker, onto the reviews:

SPOOTYCUP: Okay okay, here's another chapter, happy? ;) Leo's awake kinda, so you'll get to see more of him now, enjoy! Thanks for reviewing :)

IN THE CLOUDS: Not very clever with the juggling thing, now there's four fics, I think :) Talk about coincidence, first Buslady's pet turtles and now this? I swear I didn't mean to kill you off, blame my muse ;) Which fanfic is it that you recommend? I'm curious, I'd love to read it :) Future Leo being a hermit isn't really something I could write, I like how Leo is at the moment and I think that given the circumstances he would be a lot like he is in this fic, considering that there isn't much left in the world. Thanks for reviewing :)

LIONESS-GODDESS: Oh definitely the Star Wars novels :) Hope you like this chapter too, see..... Leo's awake now and I was going to keep him out for another couple of chapters......... just kidding ;) Thanks for reviewing :)

PRETENDER FANATIC: Thanks, you think it's original? Really? Awwww, don't make me blush!! :) Anyways, I hope I've managed to keep Raphael in character with this chapter, I think he would be like that too ;) Thanks for reviewing :)


	4. Whole Again

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 4

Whole again

I stood next to Leo's bed as Raph told us all about his conversation with Jake, Sam not too far from his side, Don sat in my vacant seat with his hand resting on Leo's, I could see the concern on his face, after he lost his wife he became more open about his feelings for us, I think he doesn't want us to forget that he cares for us all and he is frightened to lose us. I could understand that, there was a brief moment that I hadn't told them about during Leo's treatment that we came close to losing him and that scared me.

Adrian was there to see it and I know that he felt it too, after all, he was very close to Leo, almost like a son, Leo had been the one who found him when he was ten, suffering the changes of the mutation. Half human and half wolf, Leo said he was draped over his mother's dead body and refused to leave her but after some soothing words and promises, he let her go and Leo took him home. For weeks he refused to leave Leo's side, he was so scared of everyone and everything that Leo was the only person he felt he would be safe with.

Those days were the worst, the initial few weeks when people were changing, the lucky ones died when the wave hit, some were unlucky and died weeks later, the effect of the change overwhelming them, forcing them to give up their lives. I remember the four of us trying to help as many as we could but we couldn't help them all, it seemed like we were forever burying bodies, the first body we buried was Splinter's, he died instantly, there was no way he could have survived, his age was against him, he didn't suffer, not like the poor souls topside.

I don't think we truly mourned the loss of our Sensei and father, we didn't have time, I know that that sounds cold hearted but it's the truth, if we wanted to survive then we had to carry on, we had to try and put this city back together and live our lives again.

That's what we had set out to do, those who were strong enough physically and mentally learned to fight and defend the place that they now call home. There were days when we would go out and hunt for supplies, food, water, weapons and anything we could use to help Donny create a safe and livable home.

"Don?"

I turned quickly to the hoarse voice and noticed Leo looking at Don, blinking at the bright light and trying to focus on him, I spin around and point to the light switch, silently asking for Adrian to dim the lights, he does and I turn back to my brothers.

"Leo, hey, how you feeling?" Don asks quietly, his hold on Leo's hand tightens.

"Mmm, thirsty" he replies. He reaches his other arm over to pat Don's hand and I smile, now that he was awake a ray of hope fills the room, I really don't know how he does it and I don't care, I move towards Raph and pat his shell.

"The brothers four once again" I say poetically, Raph frowns at me but even he couldn't hold off a smile for that long, I move to the table and pour Leo a glass of water from the jug left there for our use, Don and Raph help Leo to sit up a little and I hold the glass for him and put it to his mouth, he cups his hands around mine but I still guide it, he wasn't that strong yet, even if he thought he was.

After a few sips he signals with a nod that he has had enough and I place the now half empty glass on the table by his bed, he closes his eyes for a moment to compose himself then glances at us all and smiles.

"Look at your faces, anyone would think that you were worried about me?" he jokes lightly.

We chuckle at that and Raph playfully swats his arm, "Why would we be worried about you? You think everything's gonna fall down without ol' fearless there to hold the place up?"

I gently slap Raph's arm and he turns to me, "Hey, give the guy a break will ya? He's just woke up and you come in here and start beating on him?" I add smiling madly.

Raph shrugs then turns back to Leo, "Good to have you back bro'"

Don stands and wraps his arms around him, "Don't do that to me again Leo"

Leo weakly hugs him back, for a brief moment, everything else fades away and we enjoy the moment of happiness.

* * *

I really think now that Leo is the worst patient I have ever had to treat, he refuses to stay in bed and take it easy and I am getting ever closer to tying him to the damn thing, if that isn't bad enough, Adrian is fussing over him and I know that Leo is getting a little frustrated with all the attention.

"Leo, will you please just sit down?" I ask sighing heavily, he didn't take long after he woke to question about current events and Raph obliged, which in turn put Leo on high alert, he hasn't settled down now that he knows he is in the Phoenix compound.

At the moment he is pacing around the room trying to put the strength back into his legs, he sways every so often and Adrian reaches out to help him but Leo bats his hands away, Adrian simply shrugs at me, we both know how Leo can be, he has never liked being fussed over, when we were little Leo wouldn't stay down with the strongest of viruses hitting him, it was a sign of weakness and Leo doesn't like to be seen that way, we don't blame him for it, it's just the way he is.

"Leo, maybe you should..." Adrian starts.

"Will you two stop it? I'm fine" Leo replies lightly, chuckling at our concern.

I have to smile at him, he is strong, either that or very good at hiding any pain that he's going through right now, or maybe he doesn't want us to add him to our already long list of worries.

A knock on the door and I walk towards it, pulling it open, it's the bear from the truck, we found out later that his name is Galen, he is Jake's second in command, I step back from the door so that he can enter.

"So you finally made it back to the land of the living, huh?" he says sarcastically.

Leo stiffens slightly, not willing to show any weakness, "Yes, thank you," he replies calmly.

"Good. Jake sends his best and asks that when you are feeling well enough, he would like you all to have dinner with him, to discuss the scavenger threat. He feels that there is little time to waste"

Leo nods, "Tell Jake that his invitation is accepted," Leo turns to me, "tomorrow night?"

I nod my approval, I'm still his doctor after all.

"Very well" Galen replies then he turns and leaves. I close the door behind him and walk to Leo.

"Bed"

"Mike..."

"No Leo, tomorrow you can move about as much as you want but for tonight I want you to sleep" I order gently, he tries to protest but I continue, "Leo, either you sleep of your own free will or I will have to make you, it's your choice"

"Okay okay," he moves towards the bed and climbs into it, pulling the covers over himself, I chuckle lightly, it was fun to have this much power over my brother.

* * *

The next day Leo had asked for all of us to meet before the dinner, he wanted to make sure that everyone knew as much as he did about the scavengers and his secret communications with Jake.

We sat around one of the small tables in the med lab, Leo at the top of it with Raph and me either side, Don sat opposite him whilst Adrian and Sam stood by the door.

Raph didn't give Leo a chance to start, "So what's the deal about keeping your little chat with Jake secret from us? Why did I have to hear it from him first?"

Leo rested his arms on the table, "I didn't intend to keep it secret from you and I only spoke with him once, the next day I was attacked"

"Which raises another point, how did that cat manage to get to you in your own room?" Raph asked.

"To be honest, I don't know," Leo looked around the table, "It was late and I was tired, I walked into my room and didn't bother with the lights, then I heard something and before I knew it, there was a cat clinging onto my shell"

That cat was well trained, she had managed to take Leo out and it took six of our security guards and Carla and Sam to take her down, there was no doubt that she was on a suicide mission, the question is, who wanted to kill Leo so badly?

"Do you think the scavengers sent her?" Don questioned, "Or have we walked into a carefully planned Phoenix trap?"

Leo sighed and leaned back in his chair, "That's what we're going to find out"

* * *

Our escort knocked quietly on the door and moments later it opened, the six of us moved inside the room. It was a large room with a long rectangular table positioned in the middle, jugs of water and glasses, plates and cutlery were scattered about on it's top and seats lined the edge. Jake sat at the head of the table, facing the door, he stood and gestured for us to sit. Leo sat at the opposite end of the table with Raph next to him, Don on Leo's other side, Sam sat next to Raph, I was with Don and Adrian sat on my other side. After some moments the door opened again and Galen and Blake entered, filling the vacant seats.

With the table now full the servants presented the food and poured the water for us all and Jake started to eat immediately. We followed suit.

As we ate, we talked, with Jake leading the conversation, "I am pleased to see that you are alright, Leonardo"

"Thank you Jake, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are grateful for the assistance" Leo answers formally, "However, I am curious at your willingness to be so forthcoming with both information and medical supplies"

Jake nodded, "Hmm, yes I can see how this can unnerve you but had you not come here, this conversation would not be happening," he leaned forward and took the food from his fork, and slowly chewed, focusing intently on each of us before swallowing and continuing, "I heard that at one point during your treatment, your heart stopped, luckily your brother and my team were able to revive you"

I cringed as Don and Raph glared at me, obviously upset that I had kept that from them, Leo patted Don's arm and he looked at him, Leo smiled reassuringly at Don and nodded at me. I nodded in return, grateful for at least his comforting look.

"I think we are drifting away from the point of this meal, I thought you wanted to discuss the threat of the scavengers not attempt to upset my brothers with unnecessary information" Leo retorted.

Jake smiled, "You're brief moment of death is 'unnecessary information'? That's extremely cold hearted Leonardo"

"Just get to the point Jake" Raph snapped, he never was one for long conversations.

"Yes, the point. Well it seems evident that you were attacked by a scavenger assassin, who, I'm pleased to say, had failed in their mission. I believe that now would be the ideal time for a peace treaty whilst the scavengers are still cautious in their attempts on your life" Jake answered.

Raph leaned towards Leo and spoke quietly in his ear, Leo nodded every now and then, when they had finished, Raph leaned back again. Leo straightened.

"If everything you say is true Jake, we would like to find out ourselves before we could agree to this union. Which means that we must return to the community as soon as possible" Leo said.

Jake smiled as if he knew, I wondered for a moment if those hyena ears of his caught Raph and Leo's conversation.

"Very well, we can allow you the use of one of our less protected vehicles, I'm sure you can understand that vehicles are difficult to obtain and we cannot risk losing one of our trucks" Jake gestured to one of the servants who came close, leaned into him and listened as Jake spoke in his ear then the servant nodded before disappearing out of the room, "Your transport should be ready within the hour but first please finish your meals, the chef did spend quite a bit of our reserves on this dinner tonight and I would be displeased if the food went to waste"

The rest of the meal went quietly, at the end we left the dining room and headed towards the loading bay, our vehicle awaited, it was a smaller truck with only a small amount of armor surrounding it, I thought to myself as we climbed inside that we would be better off walking back.

* * *

AN: I'm quite pleased with myself at the moment, this is the third update in two days on three of my stories!!

Warning: Chapter 5 is going to contain action and angst in a major way, you all remember the journey to the Phoenix faction, well now we have the journey back to deal with! Remember this place is a nasty place to live, no one hardly ever goes outside! It's dangerous!

Reviews:

IN THE CLOUDS: Definitely plenty of questions, which is okay for me because I know all of the answers, I love keeping everyone guessing :) When I received your review, I jumped straight to ZEROHOUR and I have to say that it was a fantastic read, you are absolutely right, thanks for pointing it out for me and thanks for the review! ;)

SPOOTYCUP: Leo's awake and in charge, leading the team again! If you keep pushing me like this I think my fingers are going to fall off LOL ;) Thanks for reviewing :)

LIONESS-GODDESS: LOL (Good Weird! Good Weird!) I like it! One of the best? Really? I'm sure that there are better ones out there! Thanks though, that means a lot! :) I think that Jake is a little freakier in this chapter but wait for it, soon you will see just what Jake is like ;) Ahhh, you'll have to wait for the history lesson I'm afraid but fear not, all will be revealed ;) Thanks for reviewing :)

PRETENDER FANATIC: It was a slow chapter but I think this one is too, next one's gonna be good though ;) I don't seem to be having too much trouble with Raph's character in this story but cripes am I having trouble with Don's!! Oh well, practise makes perfect I suppose, thanks for the review :)

ALIVEINTHEDARKNESS: Wow, what a pen name, that's tricky to write without instinctively wanting to hit the space bar ;) You like Mike's character? I think he has been more serious than anything else at the moment but can we blame him? Thanks for the review :)

REV: As always, your reviews are greatly appreciated and accepted, thank you my friend :)

HAZLOV2004: Sneaked over from the 'Drome eh? Thanks for reviewing :)

REINBEAUCHASER: Behind? Don't worry about it, we all get it from time to time ;) I'd like to say that I watched anything to write that chapter but it was purely from my head, I do however have a liking for such films, recently 'Band of Brothers' tickled my fancy but no, that chapter came from the depths of my brain, funny enough though, I have never seen Saving Private Ryan or Behind Enemy Lines, two films I have wanted to see but had neither the opportunity or the time, I'll get around to it someday! Oh and you were absolutely right about Sarah Brightman, Absolutely fantastic, a shear delight but I won't comment too much, or I'll never stop! Thanks for the review :)

GIJINKA RENAMON: Many thanks and as requested, another chapter, thanks for reviewing :)


	5. Here we go again

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Chapter 5

Here we go again.

The sound of gunfire causes us to stop and hide, Don pulls the truck into a small lobby area of an old office block and Adrian and Sam climb out to investigate. Raph moves from the front of the truck to back, towards me and Leo, who looks exhausted.

"Mike, stay with Leo and don't let him off of this truck unless we really need to move" he orders quietly and I notice Leo stiffen. That upset him and I knew that an argument was bound to start.

"Hey, I'm right here Raph and I'm not an invalid so don't start treating me like one" Leo replied shortly, I think he's getting a little frustrated at all of the attention and being treated like a wounded old man. Don has turned and is now leaning one arm over the back of the driver's seat, a warning look gazing my way, I return the look with equal concern, Leo and Raph were going argue.

"Okay, so you're not an invalid, so how about I treat you like a child because you're acting like one" Raph retorted, putting his hands on his hips to affirm his point. Leo stood in the confined space of the truck so that he and Raph were at eye level.

"I am not! Incase you haven't noticed Raph, we're still some distance from the community and I don't want anyone jeopardizing their chances of making it back by having them needlessly fuss over me" Leo growled.

Raph didn't get a chance to reply as Sam and Adrian returned, Sam stood at the rear of the truck with her shotgun ready as Adrian approached Raph and Leo. Their timing couldn't have been any better.

"We've got Scavengers about two blocks from here, they seem to be fighting another group that we couldn't identify" Adrian said as he glanced between my two steaming brothers.

Raph crossed his arms over his chest and inhaled deeply, "How many?" he exhaled.

"Scavengers number about seven, whoever is attacking them number at least twenty five" Adrian responded and Raph nodded.

"Well then, lets leave them to it shall we?" Raph moved away and headed towards the front of the truck, back to his seated position next to Don.

"No" Leo said. Raph stopped and turned to him.

"No?" Raph mimicked, crossing his arms again and glaring at Leo.

"No. We are not leaving them to it. I want to know what is going on, I want to know why the community is being targeted and why the Phoenix are being so friendly to us and those Scavengers out there know the answers, besides that their outnumbered" Leo replied.

"Outnumbered? Their Scavengers Leo, what do we care about a bunch of lowlifes that have gone out of their way to upset some faction and brought this attack on themselves, they don't deserve our help" Don spat angrily, he doesn't care much for the Scavengers even now, as far as he was concerned they were all better off dead.

Leo moved slowly over to Don and rested his hand onto his shoulder, Don sighed and looked away from Leo, unable to meet his gaze. Leo let out a breath then spoke quietly to him, "Look, I know what you think of these people but you can't ask me to change who I am. The community was built by us, by who we are, we have morals Don and I'm not about to change mine because of the flag that they are flying"

Don sighed and stood from his seat, then he stared at Leo, "Don't get me wrong Leo, I hate them. If I could rid this city of them tomorrow, I would. I've never forgiven them for what they did to me, what they took from me,"

"No one's asking you to forgive them Don," Raph added.

"Good. Cause I won't." Don spat quickly, then he breathed slowly and closed his eyes, trying to ease the anger welling up inside of him, "They better have some useful information about what's happening around here"

* * *

We watched from above at the battle raging below us, the seven Scavengers were pinned down behind the wreckage of a truck and the corner of an alley, their attackers were firing wildly at them, within minutes of our arrival one of the Scavengers was cut down, a series of bullets shooting right through him and impacting into the wall some way behind him, his cry only fuelled the enemy further, they roared in victory at the kill. Another Scavenger launched himself into the fray, unconcerned that the bullets would soon hit him as well. 

Raph whispered the plan to us, although whispering was hardly necessary, no one would have heard us over the gunfire below. Don, Sam and Adrian moved quickly away, they had the job of reducing the numbers of the unknown faction. Leo, Raph and I had the job of helping the Scavengers hold up against the barrage.

The brave Scavenger who valiantly dived into the center of the battlefield was crawling ever closer to the enemy, a bullet lodged into his upper right thigh leaving a trail of blood along the ground. He managed to make it to a small pit that gave him some protection against the bullets but not by much. He pulled a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin with his teeth then launched it over his shoulder and into the front line of the enemy, it exploded and bodies flew from their makeshift bunkers into the air and landed heavily on the ground. Their bodies were bloodied and broken with shrapnel and the force of the impact.

As we neared the Scavengers, some of the enemy had managed to gain a closer front and we ran straight into them, Leo didn't hesitate as he pulled his katana, he was going to prove to Raph that he was okay.

I instinctively ducked as a metal pipe flew past my head, still crouched I brought my leg out and took my opponents feet out from under him, he hit the ground hard. Before he could recover from the impact I brought a chuck to the side of his head, knocking him out cold.

Raph's war cry made me glance his way and I watched as he cut two opponents with his sai, one across the neck causing blood to pour from the wound profusely as he fell down dead. The other had a sai impaled in the side of his throat, Raph ripped it out and allowed the guy to fall to the floor. Raph wasn't playing around, he wanted this over quickly.

Another attacker comes at me but I've seen him already, he yells as he runs furiously at me and I move quickly to the side, as he tries to slow himself down I grab him by the scruff of the neck and use his momentum to force him into the wall head first, I hear a crack on impact and I know I've broken his nose but he won't notice it until he wakes up.

I search around madly for Leo and find that I can't see him, Raph's noticed too and gives me a fearful look, ours bodies are turning quickly in circles trying to see him but he is nowhere to be found. Panic rushes through me until I here a yell as one of our attackers flies past me, from the look of his injuries he was run through with a katana. We run quickly in the direction of more yells and find Leo fending off against five attackers whose markings are unknown to us, they are neither Phoenix or Scavenger, nor any other of the smaller factions in this city.

Their markings may not tell us anything but they are still attacking my brother so that makes them enemies. I don't know who jumped in first, me or Raph but at the sight of Leo's 'calvery' they wasted no time in beating a retreat. Then the realization hits me.

This is a trap.

The three of us have no need for words as we race away towards Don and the others, bounding over the debris, rubble and fallen bodies, I only hope that the others are safe.

When we arrive at the side of the battlefield that the twenty five mutants were, we found more dead bodies, some were bullet ridden, a shotgun introducing them to their maker. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. Sam was kneeling on the ground with Adrian's head resting in her lap, he's been shot and Don is nowhere in sight. Leo reached Adrian first and took him from a shaken Sam, Raph took her by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet, she fell into him and shook even more. Leo held Adrian tight as if holding him that close would keep him from slipping away but I knew what I had to do.

* * *

After tending to Adrian's injuries and making a futile search for Don we were now back in the truck with Raph at the wheel. As we finally made it home we felt no joy at our return. 

Don was missing in action and what makes it worse is that we have no way of knowing which faction has him. One thing for sure is that when we find out, there's going to be hell to pay.

* * *

Author's note: I am so sorry that this chapter has taken so long to rear it's ugly little head and I'm also sorry that it is so short. I am having a case of writers block across the board at the moment. A good thing about this chapter though is that I'll get to hear some speculation from you, the readers as to what has happened to Don and where you think this story is going, at least I hope so anyway!! So please be kind and leave a review! This story is made from all those lovely reviews! 

A big thank you to...... takes deep breath....... Lioness-Goddess, hazlov2004, Jingeling, spootycup, Vampy, aliveinthedarkness, Pretender Fanatic, In The Clouds, ConnArtist, Rev and dp03kf for taking the time to read and review. Thanks guys! :)


	6. Mabe

Sorry for the long gap between updates, major computer problems resulted in the loss of all of my work, chapters, emails, the lot! I had a new chapter for all of my stories except this one on there too and now I am in the process of trying to retrieve them. Oh well, these things are sent to try us, they say!

Many thanks for the kind reviews, spootycup, Rev, hazlov2004, dp03kf, Lioness-Goddess, Vampy, aliveinthedarkness and In The Clouds. Thanks guys :)

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

Chapter 6

Mabe

The first thing that I noticed as I awoke was that I wasn't meant to see anything in the room, a blindfold covered my eyes. My hands were tied behind me and the chair that I sat upon, my ankles bound to it's legs.

The last thing that I remember was the battle with Adrian and Sam and being set upon by a number of hidden mutants, as I fought to gain some fighting space I remember seeing Adrian taking a bullet for Sam. When he fell, I fell at the same time, from a tranquilliser dart in the side of my neck.

I was pulled from those thoughts by the sound of a door opening and closing to my left, then footsteps that gradually grew closer as the person approached, from the sound of them, the person was possibly female.

As the blindfold lifted off, my suspicions were confirmed and I knew who exactly she was too.

"Mabe"

Mabe strolled over, wiggling her hips. She was a mutated snake, so it was a natural movement for her. Her eyes kept their snake like appearance but her features were more human than most mutants around. She had dark, almost black hair that curled down around and under her chin and she wore blue denim pants and a red vest that fit her figure perfectly. She stopped just in front of me and bowed formally.

"Donatello," she greeted, "I apologise for your current state, we were uncertain at how you would react to our meeting"

"Believe me, it was the right thing to do" I growled. I hate the Scavengers.

"We know how you feel towards us, our past hasn't shown any promising signs has it?" she smiled slightly.

"No, _you_ haven't" I returned.

"We are who we are Donatello" she sighed, "My superiors asked me to speak on their behalf, they feel that a familiar face would make you more comfortable"

I nod once, "I'm tied up, in the hands of the enemy who were responsible for the death of my wife. Who also set a trap by deliberately killing their own to draw our attention? And if I'm not mistaken, that encounter caused a member of our clan to get shot! How much trust is your pretty little face going to imprint on me?" I retort.

"A very good argument Donatello" she replies before straddling me, she reaches around me and I feel her working at untying my hands. The side of her face rested gently against mine as she speaks.

"This is the first step at trust on my part, once free you could easily kill me, if that is what you wish. I know that you hate the Scavengers very much but what I have to tell you goes beyond our factions and their pretty squabbles. I'm not asking you to trust me, at least not right now but I am asking you to listen to what I have to say before you decide" she pulls back slowly and stares at me, with my arms now free I had every opportunity to kill her but then I would have no chance of getting out of here alive. If she did have something important to say that might reveal why there was so much faction activity then I need to know.

"I'm listening"

"Good" she moves, or more appropriately slides down to the floor and begins to untie my ankles, "the Scavengers were not responsible for the attack on Leo"

"Leonardo" I correct her with a glare.

"Alright then. Leonardo" she says softly, her face dulls slightly at the mention of his name, "Is he… okay?"

"Yes"

"Good. That's good" she's beginning to get distracted and I don't have time for that.

"Keep talking"

"We know about your visit with the Phoenix and logically they would lay blame on us for the attack" she's standing now and formally at that. Her mind is back on track and thinking clearly.

"They did" I respond

"We knew they would. We also know that they offered you a peace treaty and that you were willing to consider the offer, what we do not understand is why you would even think of an alliance with them considering that their past with you is more colourful than our own"

"We, as a community, consider any and all genuine alliances, regardless of past misdeeds. You should know that" I return, it was a formal response and one that Mabe is fully aware of.

"Donatello please" she groaned, "We're not trying to interrogate you, we want to help out against the Phoenix that's all"

"Funny. That's exactly what the Phoenix had to say about you. Why is everyone so interested in us all of a sudden?"

"Two words Donatello. Liberty and Island"

Those two words broke the faceless expression I had managed to keep throughout the talk. My jaw dropped. Mabe knew about Liberty Island, which meant that so did the Scavengers provided that she hadn't changed from the lying, deceitful bitch that she was when she graced us with her presence all those years ago. She had access to information that only the highest-ranking members of the community were privy to, but only because she used to be one of them.

"So word has finally drifted out about that then, huh?"

"I'm afraid so. On a good note, it wasn't my doing" she responded huffing a little at the end.

"So this is why I'm here? To confirm information that you already know?" I said frustratingly.

"I know that this could have been discussed by radio communication, but we were able to intercept those made between the Community and the Phoenix. We deemed it unsafe to use that course of action"

"So you set a trap and purposely killed members of your own faction to gain our attention then dart me and bring me back here to talk about Liberty's little secret?"

She bristled, if that were possible for a snake, standing tall she looked down at me, "Do you have any idea how bad I felt for ordering those people to just stand there and take those bullets? I knew that it was the only thing that would draw you out considering Leo's condition at the time!" she was practically screaming by the end.

I stood swiftly and reached out, grabbing her arms. She didn't plan this around us. She planned this around Leo, she knew what he would do.

"You had this planned from the start! You knew that Leo would be drawn out by that commotion! YOU set us up just to tell me that Liberty has been discovered? What the hell are you up to Mabe?" I shouted back.

"I wanted to help! We want to help, we, as in, the Scavengers!" her face softened and her eyes began to water, "You know what would happen if anyone was to get their hands on it Don. It would be over. No more New York. And God knows what else would get wiped out, I don't want that to happen Don. I don't want to die because of some stupid little uneducated mutant who never saw the world devoured the last time"

I stared at her as she rambled on, she was right. We had spent two weeks trying to move and hide that damned thing on Liberty Island. It wasn't easy and at the time there was only the four of us to do it. Now the threat was rearing it's ugly little head again.

"What are the scavengers offering Mabe?" I mumbled. Not completely willing to commit myself to anything but needing to know all of the details so that I could tell my brothers everything that I know.

"Technology. As much as you need to get to it before anyone else does"

"Why? Why help with this?"

"They want it. Or more appropriately, they want it in pieces. They're willing to share whatever technology that you have on the island in return for helping you get to that thing first and making sure that no one can use it"

"Understandable. But what makes you think that we would need your help?"

"Don, you and I both know that the Community's defences are close to failing, you need supplies and the Scavengers can help you with that"

I think for a moment, she knows that I alone would not make any agreements here and now, not without my brothers. But she is desperate and there is still the possibility that this snake was lying. Whatever the truth, we could only decide back at the community.

"You know that I have to go back and talk with my brothers about this Mabe"

"Yes, and my superiors are willing to let you go freely. But they do ask that you allow me to accompany you. They feel that my past connections with you would make me the ideal emissary for the Scavengers"

I laugh slightly at her seriousness and the stupidity of her statement. There is no way that she would get a warm greeting from anyone at the Community, least of all Raph. And Leo would be thrown slightly off guard by her presence, coupled with the fact that he was recently injured and most likely blaming himself for my disappearance.

"Don't expect any warm greetings on arrival Mabe, you know how well your last visit went" I chuckle slightly, "Hell, I'd be surprised if you make it past Carla at the door, you know how she thinks about you"

Mabe sighs and slowly tips her head, "I didn't intend to do the damage that I did Don, I truly am sorry"

"Save the apologies for Leo" I respond, "And it's Donatello to you Mabe"

* * *

The journey home was uneventful, obviously our trip had remained secret, which meant that the closer we moved to the Community the more dangerous our journey would become. If they had known that I was coming home then security would have been sufficiently lowered. Luckily though, I designed these systems and know where each device was hidden along the way.

Unfortunately I forgot about the camera located at the top right of the tunnel wall at the corner. Silly really, that was personally installed by me about three months ago. It was a good job that Mabe had moved into the correct position to enable the camera to get a full view of her and of course me, trailing behind her.

Now I know that Raph will be there to greet us when we arrive.

* * *

As the guard let me enter with Mabe close behind I was rushed by a green body, I knew straight away that it was Mike. I returned his affectionate gesture by embracing him, holding him a little tighter than I really needed to but still not enough to do him any damage.

"Damn Donny, you had us worried there for a while bro'" he said still latched onto me.

"Missed you too Mike," I returned, "So you see me coming then?"

"I liked the little wave, it seeped sarcasm, almost something Raph would do" he chuckled and pulled away. We stared at each other for sometime before Raph interrupted. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to one side. His eyes never leaving Mabe.

"What the hell is she doing here?"

I smile at him, "Nice to be back, thanks Raph"

His gaze moves back to me and yet another embrace, not the last either by my reckoning.

"You know that Leo's gonna be pissed when he sees her, probably right after he's finished crushing you with a hug" he says quietly.

"I know, but I wouldn't have been able to leave if I didn't leave with her" I answer weakly, knowing full well what his answer would be.

"Then why not just dump her ass, lose her out there somewhere then get back here?" he pushed. He was doing his job and I couldn't fault him for that. The security of this complex depended on him asking too many questions.

"Because the Scavengers have made her their ambassador, she's here until we make our decision"

"What decision?"

I didn't have time to respond when the room fell silent, Raph and I followed Mike's stare as his head moved back and forward between Mabe and Leo.

Leo didn't look for long before moving swiftly to me, grabbing my face in his hands in a style of an older sibling and checking my features. A moment later and I was being hugged again. The thing is, I'm not complaining about it. They missed me and I missed them, if it was only for a short while. These were of course, dangerous times and anyone left outside the sanctity of any faction rarely survived the night.

We certainly haven't been safely tucked away in bed every night, sometimes we didn't come home straight away and would usually end up returning the next morning. The reaction? Still the same.

As Leo and I spoke, Raph had moved towards Mabe and now he and Mike began to talk quietly to her.

"What is she doing here Don?" Leo asked.

"Leo she's here to wait for our answer"

"To what question?"

"Liberty's been discovered, someone knows about the missile"


	7. Torn

**AN:** (Nervously walks in with newest chapter in her hands) I am so sorry that this one has taken some time to be updated, I've got so many stories going at the moment and hardly any time to work on them. You may need to read back over the last few chapters to remember what's going on, and please help me out here and really scrutinise this chapter. It's been such a long time since I've written anything that I'm struggling quite a bit with it. Thanks :)

Big thanks go to; **spootycup, hazlov2004, Rev, Pretender Fanatic, Lioness Goddess, Megazord Master** and **Jessiy Landroz**. Sorry for just giving you guys a mention, I normally like to say something to each of you but I've got to be out of the house in about five minutes so I'm rushing this, LOL. Thank you so much for the reviews, everyone :)

Disclaimer: TMNT no mine :(

Chapter 7 (Leo) 

"The missile's a cover to hide whatever else they've got planned, I think it's a distraction and one we shouldn't fall for!" Raph paced the small private office room, his hands flailing in the air for emphasis. Mike sits calmly at the table studying the medical papers that he entered with. Don stood by my chair, his hand resting behind me on the back of it. He pushed the surveillance photos along the table towards Raph and stamped his finger down on top of them.

"The photos show that there are two groups advancing on the island, there's no way that this is a hoax, distraction or not, it's still a matter that needs to be addressed!"

"I'm not going to authorise any of my men to go on this mission! The Community would have only a skeleton crew left to protect from attack, and I don't want to come back and find that our home has been burnt to the ground!"

"I'm not talking about an all out attack! I'm merely suggesting a recon, then if the team find anything, we move in!"

"So you're Chief of Security now? Well, thanks for your assessment Don but I think that you should stick to your nuts and bolts and leave the rest to me, okay?"

"Raph…"

"Enough!" I slammed my hand down hard onto the table, causing the jug of water and tumblers to shake. This conversation had been going on for over three hours and after hearing this particular part of the argument twice before, I decided enough was enough. I turn my attention to my silent brother, "Mike, what have you got to report on the medical front?"

Mike tapped his chin in thought until the mention of his name, "Firstly, Adrian is being as stubborn as his father and wants to get back to work. I've given him another week of bed rest and then he's free to leave, but I recommend that he be kept off of active duty for another two weeks after his release." He glances at the pages again, turning a few over, "No major problems to report. A few people with minor injuries due to domestic accidents, a few cases of the flu, that's pretty much it, nothing that we can't deal with. Medical supplies are holding up, the last supply run brought in a good few essentials so there's nothing to worry about there."

I nod my approval and turn to Don, "Engineering?"

Don nods, "We've been busy patching up sensor holes that have began to appear for no reason, several cameras were found offline and certain access points have been tampered with. All have been repaired and extra security measures are being installed as we speak. The domestics division report that they've had an influx of work from the residents, mainly problems with water distribution, it's in hand."

"Good," and it was, but not their reports. My brothers were now focusing and hadn't even noticed my subtle prompting into obtaining that focus, "Security?"

Raph stepped forward, pulled out the chair and slumped into it, he reached for the jug of water and poured the contents into the glasses, sliding them along the metallic table to each of us.

"Aside from Don's security requests when his team found the breaks in the perimeter alarms, its been pretty much quiet down there." Our position put us above the main Community members, each of us occupying rooms near the command centre and infirmary located on the upper levels. "However, there is the issue of Mabe. I don't like her here, she's a security risk and one that I think should be dealt with immediately. I know I'm not the only one who thinks that."

"Raph, she's here under peaceful terms. The New Birth Treaty prevents us from just throwing her out, she's officially an ambassador and as such she is welcome here."

"You sure you're not just getting distracted, Leo? Don't tell me that after all these years you don't have any feelings for her."

"That's in the past, Raph."

"You sure about that?"

"The Treaty stands. Every faction adheres to it, no single community can be exempt…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know what the damn treaty says. Listen Leo, Mabe is a troublemaker, she looks after number one, screw everyone else. You of all people know what she's like and we can't trust her. If she came here to tell us about the missile, she's done her job, there's no reason for her to stick around."

I let out a sigh, Raph was right. There wasn't any reason for Mabe to stay here and the fact that I hadn't had her extradited by now would soon be obvious to the people, they would start asking questions, maybe even doubting my decisions. As an ambassador, she was entitled to stay here as long as she needed, providing of course that she didn't cause any trouble. As far as the Community was concerned, she was trouble. Her actions or more appropriately, her choices forced her into exile.

Mabe had been responsible for leaking information about the supply run that Jess had commanded, she had reported the route and list of essentials to the Scavengers and they in turn attacked the group near the end of their mission, taking much of the items that they had found. Jess was killed trying to protect the supplies and those under her command. I wondered briefly how Don had coped with his meeting with Mabe, my usually shy and passive younger brother had changed dramatically over the years and Jessica's death had attributed much to that change.

"There may be a chance that she could provide more information, if given the right incentive." Don was lightly scratching his bicep, a habit that he's picked up when his thoughts travel inwards and his brain is working at a thousand miles a minute.

"Oh?" Raph asked with a smile, "What incentive would that be?"

"Well," he began, "when I was at the Scavenger base, she asked me a few questions about how Leo was doing. I think that after all this time, she still thinks of you, Leo. Maybe even still loves you, perhaps she'd be willing to talk with you and give you a little more information than she would if we were involved."

I shook my head, "I don't think so, Don."

Don suddenly became active, his movements quickened and I noticed a gleam in his eye. He didn't seem bothered that Mabe was here in our home, although I knew he was.

"Leo, I know that this is difficult enough as it is but you have to consider the information that she may possess. If there's a chance that she'll talk with you then we need to do this."

"Don, I _can't_ do this. Why the hell do you think that I'm staying away from her?" I rested my head in my hands to try and soothe the headache that was developing, Don crouched beside me and his hand rested on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Leo. This isn't something that we can simply dismiss, you'll have to talk to her sometime, why not now?"

"For the simple fact that your wife is dead because of mine! She wasn't just exiled from the Community, she was exiled from _my life!_"

"Leo…" Mike stood and began to move around the table towards us. Don stood, eyes wide. I detected anger from him and after my last comment I wasn't surprised, Raph didn't move from his chair, he wasn't about to intervene and I was pleased that he chose to remain silent.

"This meeting is over." I pronounced as I stood sharply and headed out of the room.

XOXOXOX.

I thundered along the corridor towards the infirmary, Adrian had been receiving regular visits from me about this time of the evening and despite my mood I would still check in on him, as I neared the door I heard voices, I peered into the room and noticed that Adrian had a visitor. Mabe was talking quietly with him by his bedside and for the first time in my life, I wanted to ignore my son simply to avoid her. I chose not to, it wasn't his fault that he was bed-ridden and she was visiting him, it looks like my brothers were going to get their wish, sooner or later I was going to have to talk to her. I walked into the room and their heads turned in my direction, both smiled but only Adrian received my reply.

"How are you feeling?" I asked as he lifted his hand to take mine. His smile was forced because, I assumed, the painkillers were wearing off.

"I'm good. Ready to get back into the flow of things, this place must be falling apart without me." He joked, I laughed mildly at his humour.

"You're not taking over yet, unless you plan on taking down the old man." I quipped, his chuckle turned into a minor coughing fit and I helped him to sit up, Mabe reached forward and I reluctantly let her reach around him and ease him. Adrian didn't need to see the tension as well as feel it in the room, whether she was here or not, that didn't mean that I was not going to comfort my son.

"Thanks." he rasped, I gently eased the glass from the bedside table to his lips and he sipped at it, after he signalled that he had had enough I rested the glass back down. The room came to an uneasy silence, no one knowing what to say, Adrian rested his hand on my arm and I looked at him.

"Dad," he appealed, "Mabe came here to see how I was, please don't… just talk to each other. The tension's killing me" he smiled and half laughed at himself and I knew that he was just concerned for me in the current situation. Still, nothing was said.

His hand gently squeezed my arm, "You've seen me. I'm okay." He soothed, "Don't worry about me so much, old man." He smiled warmly at me but I could see the pain in his eyes, I needed to take Mabe out of here and let him rest. I turned my attention to her, "He needs to rest," I paused for a moment then let out a sigh as I said: "And we need to talk."

XOXOXOX

As we strolled along the arboretum I watched Mabe stop to smell the newest variety of roses and orchids in the closest flower bed, she seemed so gentle and innocent right now, but I knew that I couldn't let that cloud my judgement. She wasn't as innocent as when we had first met, time had changed us both.

"Leo, these are beautiful." Her hand reached out and cupped one of the flowers and she inhaled the scent that the rose produced, her head turned towards me and she smiled warmly, "This whole place is beautiful. It's changed so much since I was last here."

I stepped closer to her and helped her to her feet, she held onto my hand as I tried to pull it away and I groaned inwardly, "Mabe, please." I said softly, "Let go."

"I can't," she whispered, "Leo… I don't want to."

"Mabe…"

"I don't want to let you go again, not when I've finally seen you after all this time, please."

I wrenched my hand free, this was getting out of hand and I was slightly infuriated with my allowing this to happen. "Mabe, I didn't bring you here to kiss and make up okay? I want to know everything you do about the Scavengers, what threat do they pose to the Community? Are they planning to attack us?"

"Leo, I can't switch my feelings off like you can, okay? I still love you and I'm sorry that that disgusts you so much!"

"Mabe…"

"No!" she turns sharply away from me, "Damn you, Leo! Do you know what you do to me? How you make me feel? And all you want to do is talk business!"

"That's what I do! It's my job to protect these people and I'll do whatever is necessary to ensure that! If you have any information that could help then I'm begging you Mabe, please tell me."

She remained silent for a short while before sighing heavily, her shoulders slumped slightly and she turned back towards me. "I know how important this is to you and I'm willing to tell you what I know, but I want something from you first."

She accepted my silence as confirmation to continue, "Tell me how you truly feel about me. Has it changed after everything that's happened?"

"I can't answer that." I replied quietly. Mabe nodded knowingly, my response was predictable.

She continued on as if nothing had happened, "The Scavengers were not responsible for attacking you, they know what the consequences would be for trying a stunt like that. At first they thought that the Phoenix had tried to frame them but new evidence suggests that we're being played, all of us. Another faction that even I don't know is trying to turn the three leading factions against each other in the hopes that we'll wipe each other out."

"Take out the top factions and the city belongs to them."

"Exactly."

That posed a problem; if what Mabe was suggesting had any truth to it then we have a serious conflict heading our way. "You don't know anything about this other faction? Nothing at all?"

"There's only rumours, talk about certain members within each faction converting to their side, possible spies. I think that includes this place."

"No, this place has been swept from top to bottom. All high level personnel have been questioned and searched, they know the drill when it comes to spies."

She frowned with deep thought, "Maybe that's the point, they know the drill. What if someone here was ready for you?"

I couldn't help but smile then, she is both beautiful and clever. "Maybe. I'll get Raph to look into it. What about the missile?" I could feel myself falling, slipping into the past, to the way we used to be. Together we were a good team. I miss that so much.

"It's a decoy, at least that's what we think. There's no way to be absolutely certain."

"We still need to make sure, there's two teams heading towards it right now. As far as we know that missile is useless, but Don seems to suggest that with the right parts it can be made active again."

"Then we need to make sure that that doesn't happen." She replied firmly. I noticed a smile and she moved closer to me.

"No. When you're ready, you're going to go back to the Scavengers." I reply quickly.

Her smile dropped slightly, "What? Leo, I can hel…"

"Mabe, you've helped enough. I appreciate everything you've done but I can't let you stay here when you work for the Scavengers, Ambassador or not." I held my hands out to her to stop her from speaking but she started to move closer, "Mabe, you don't belong here."

"But your heart tells you that I do." She whispered, "I belong with you and you know it."

"You're a Scavenger."

"I'm a freelancer. I choose who I want to be with." Her arms slowly wrapped around my neck and I found I couldn't pull away.

"Mabe…" she cut me off with a gentle kiss as my mind screamed out to stop her… but I didn't.

"Well, don't you two look cosy."

I pulled away quickly but didn't step back from her; I turned towards Raphael as he approached slowly, arms crossed.

"I knew I couldn't leave you alone with her." He spat 'her' as he glared at Mabe with a look that could kill. She held onto me tighter and I knew she was trying to push Raph's buttons, judging by the look on his face, it was working.

Raph reached out and grabbed Mabe's arm, yanking her away forcefully. She yelped in both surprise and pain as Raph twisted towards me and glared, "You. Stay here." He stomped along the short distance to the door and threw it open, two guards waited just outside, "Throw her in the holding cells, keep two guards on her at all times." There was a quick 'yes sir' and the door shut again. I could hear Mabe yelling, calling Raph a bastard and pleading with me to stop this, but I knew I couldn't do a thing. Raph approached me and I stood firm.

"Raph…" I began but he cut me off.

"Don't. Just… just don't Leo, okay? I am seriously pissed at you right now and all I want to do is knock your stupid ass on the floor." He glared at me for a moment but it dropped and he let out a tired sigh. I suddenly realised that anger was building up inside of me; I knew I shouldn't have done it but I don't think it's worth this much attention. It was just a kiss, that's all. Why was he getting so upset with this?

"It was just a kiss, Raph." I groaned.

"Just a kiss?" he sounded surprised, "Just a kiss that could've led to something more intimate, Leo. Hell, if I came in ten minutes later that's probably what I would've seen!"

"It wouldn't have got that far, it wasn't supposed to happen but it did." I replied weakly.

Raph seemed to cool off a little, he must know that I can't take much more of this. "I can't stand here and tell you that I wouldn't have made the same mistake in your position, I know it's hard. But you've got responsibilities and right now, more than ever, you need to be thinking clearly. This…" he taps his finger against my temple, "needs no distractions."

"So you're telling me that I can't have a private life anymore? That my sole purpose is to run the Community? Cause if you are, you're asking a hell of a lot from me." I reply sharply. Why was I getting so defensive?

"I'm saying that you can't get involved with Mabe! Everyone within these walls knows what she did; you can't be seen with her because of that! You exiled her and that means she can't come back! Get over her, Leo." He was right, I knew I shouldn't allow my feelings for her to get in the way, but it isn't as easy as Raph makes it sound.

"Yeah, right." I mumbled as I walked away.


	8. Love me, love me not

**AN: Long while since an update, you may have to read back a few chapters to remember what's going on, I know I had to, heh.**

**Humblest apologies to those who were waiting for an update and gracious thank you's to those who reviewed. :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT but I do like to write about them for fun and no profit.**

**Chapter Eight. **

I'd followed Leo when he'd left the meeting in such a hurry, I knew that he was seriously pissed at Don's suggestion of confronting Mabe for any information that she possessed. The fact that our intelligent brother wanted Leo to use his charm to make her talk was below the belt, but somehow I felt he wanted to hurt Mabe. If Leo was to get close to her, find out what she knew and then dump her it would certainly send a heavy blow and Don hated her that much that he would recommend just that. Did he think about how Leo would feel when he came up with that plan?

Needless to say, I was still shocked to walk in on him and Mabe tongue-tied… literally.

I wasn't angry with Leo, no that's not totally true, I was but more so at her. I had no doubt that she played on his emotions to get that close and I wasn't going to let him just walk away from me until I had some answers from him. If she did manipulate him then I needed to know if he was still fit to lead the faction, I didn't want to be right, he was the best leader I knew and I felt terrible for even thinking it but I have no choice. I contacted the control room and asked for Leo's location, the said room was fitted with a locator system that surrounded the Community, it could locate mutants by their specific species. The system located four blips that related to mutated turtles and I narrowed it down obviously ruling out my location. Mike was in the infirmary and Don had apparently reported to his team in the engineering section. The final blip showed Leo heading towards his room.

When I arrived I knocked gently on the door, no one answered but I knew he was in there. "Leo, it's me. Open up."

"I'm trying to get some sleep, Raph." He replied with a heavy sigh.

"You've only just got here, you can spare a few minutes to talk to me."

"Don't bother, I know what you're going to say."

I could already feel the frustration building as I stood outside his door, it was irritating the hell out of me. "You know you're starting to tick me off out here, open the damn door."

Moments later the door opened but not too far, Leo stood peering through the gap his expression mirroring mine in obvious frustration. Somehow I knew that it wasn't to do with my intrusion and more to do with Mabe.

"You gonna let me in?" I mutter softly. I had no intention of pissing him off further by commanding him to let me in.

The door opened completely and he walked away, I moved inside and peered along the corridor before closing the door. He reached the messed up bed and sat down heavily and I moved towards him dragging the chair from his desk as I went. I swung it around and sat across it, my arms resting on it's back. I stared at him for a moment as he paid careful attention to something else in the room, not willing to look at me. I could see the pain in his expression, his heart was pounding in his chest loud enough for me to hear it and I knew that he was fighting some internal battle deep inside. I sighed and dropped my head onto my folded arms. "What happened, Leo?" I looked up again quickly to see him close his eyes, his head still looking away from me.

"You lost control, I guessed that part when you kissed her but I need to know what happened before I got there."

His head dropped down but he still didn't speak, I thought for a moment that I wasn't going to get anything out of him but he looked up to meet my gaze. "We talked," he replied, "she told me a few things that we need to look into."

"And?"

He let out another sigh, "she asked me to take her back, to love her again."

"You can't do that."

Suddenly Leo jumped up and started pacing the room, his fists clenched, "Do you have any idea what this is doing to me? To have desires that I can't satisfy because it would irreparably damage so many lives? I can't take her back because of what she did to Don, I had to give up one love or risk losing both!"

"Don didn't ask you to exile her." I stood from the chair, finding it uncomfortable to be submissively lower from my ranting brother.

"He was too busy grieving for his wife!" he bellowed back to me, I raised my hand to try and placate him but I knew it wouldn't work. "I _had_ to do it! I couldn't let her stay!"

He stopped pacing and leaned against his desk, "I've spent all this time raising my defences against her and as soon as she shows up they're blown apart."

I suddenly felt very angry, my brother's confused and erratic words and actions made me eager to push Mabe out of the door. He wasn't focused anymore, he seemed dazed.

"She's outta here, Leo." I stated harshly. She was messing with his head a little too much for my liking. "I'll order a team to escort her out of the compound and send her on her way."

He turned, stunned.

"We need you focusing on the task at hand, I could come up with a plan for trying to fix this mess but you're the best at it. I don't want to lose anyone in a combat situation because she's screwing with your emotions." I wanted to order my team to do just that right now but the look on his face told me it could wait.

I walked forward and wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, drawing him in close. "I know this is killing you, it's hurting me to see you so upset. This whole thing has been screwed from the day they launched those missiles, the world's fucked and we've only got each other to survive whatever it throws at us."

His head dropped onto my shoulder as his hands weakly wrapped around me, he was emotionally drained from the toll of being the leader of so many and dealing with so much these passed years. I pulled him into a tight embrace. "I promise you're not alone, we'll deal with this."

He was silent even when the tears fell onto my shoulder, I held him for a while before leading him to the bed and letting him rest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In another time and place it would be funny to watch the people move out of my way as I stormed along the corridor, the holding cells only a little further ahead. I hadn't mentioned to anyone about my discussion with Leo but when Mike appeared he seemed to know in part that something was wrong. He paced along side me and kept swivelling his head to and fro to study my face and watch where he was going.

"What happened?" he asked quietly so others would not hear him, "why is Mabe in a cell? What did she do?"

"Nothing for you to worry about, Mike." I responded just as cautiously, "I'm dealing with it, get back to whatever it is you do in your infirmary."

"Adrian said that she and Leo went for a walk to the arboretum, did something happen? Where's Leo?"

I know he's concerned but he really was starting to annoy me, "Mike, I said I'd deal with this."

He suddenly gripped my arm and spun me to face him, he didn't say anything but I knew what he wanted. I sighed exasperatingly, "She's outta here, don't ask me why 'cause I ain't telling."

"What about Leo?"

"Don't disturb him, he's sleeping and he needs it right now." He nods in understanding and I reach up placing my hand on his shoulder, "do me a favour, keep Don busy. I don't want him bumping into her whilst we're throwing her out."

Mike's eyes widened, "What did Leo do?"

I look away from him and towards the holding cells, "What would you have done if it were you in his place?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I didn't tell Mike anything more after that and a part of me wondered if he thought it was more than just a kiss, in truth it was but not physically. She had messed with his head more and that's something that I won't tolerate from anybody.

I hoped that Don hadn't found out about her leaving (considering how soon Mike had put two and two together), curiosity would get the best of him and he'd want to know why we were forcing her out. Mike had insisted that he would keep Don away but I knew that short of knocking him to the floor and sitting on him it would be difficult to prevent him. It meant that my time was limited and I and my team had to move fast.

Mabe walked behind me with two guards at her sides, another two immediately behind her. We arrived at the main loading bay where one of the few armoured trucks were kept, I reached for the keypad to open the door and punched in the code, it hissed open and we all stepped inside. Mabe was remarkably quiet and calm, I was surprised that she wasn't showing any emotion to the news that she was to leave.

I pulled open the rear door of the nearest truck and stepped aside, I ordered her inside and waited for two of the guards to climb in behind her. There was a shout from the door and I watched as Don stood there, Mike stood behind him and shrugged his shoulders in apology.

"What's going on?" Don asked as he approached.

"She's leaving," I replied coolly as I gestured for the two guards to climb in.

"Why?"

"We've learnt all we can, she doesn't know anymore so she doesn't need to stay." I hoped that Don would remember the meeting earlier and my protests at allowing her to remain here as long as she had already. Unfortunately our silent 'prisoner' chose that moment to speak out and I glared at her as she grinned.

"He didn't like what he saw."

Don's eyebrow raised, "What did you see?" he asked me with a hint of displeasure, I knew he didn't like to be kept out of the loop.

"Ignore her," I replied as I started to close the doors. She leaned forward and called out to Don.

"After all this time, Leo still knows how to kiss a girl." She smirked and Don's hand suddenly gripped mine, stopping me from shutting the door. I pulled his hand away and shut the door quickly then pounded the truck to signal they could go, I stood with my back to it as he glared over my shoulder. Mike stepped closer and I waited for Don to start yelling but he spun on his heels and stomped away, we glanced at our retreating brother and instantly followed. Somehow I knew Leo's sleep was about to be interrupted.

**AN: I hope this is okay, it's sounding extremely wacky to me right now but due to my inability to successfully write something decent, this is the best I could come up with.**


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